HMS Hinchinbrook great Yarmouth — Restaurant in Great Yarmouth

We've used this place many times during our holdays in GY. And after our latest visit we were a bit shocked by one particular addition. A 10% Service charge... We didn't notice this had been added until we read our receipt later on in the day, so for us it meant an additional £7 on our bill. To be honest if it was mentioned anywhere, on the menu or on the A-Boards outside, we didn't see it. The waiting staff certainly didn't mention it. A shame as the food is ok and the place is tidy and service good. But I've never understood why an additional charge has to be made just because someone has carried out the tasks that they are paid to do! I have emailed them to ask for an explanation but have had nothing back yet. If i do I'll add the response here. Disappointed... EDIT. Received an email regarding the service charge: "In regards to the service charge. Yes it is a recent addition this year. We introduced for a few reasons. Yes we pay them to do a job and they should fulfil that job to the high standards we require. Which as a regular customer you can see we try to uphold. It is mentioned on our menu, and if we see you have had substandard service or if a problem is raised with us, ie got wrong order or missing something like cutlery or have to ask for the a sauce that should be present on your table we remove it. Also the member of staff taking your order should have handed you the bill and asked if all was ok? Please let me know if this didnt happen as it needs to be addressed. As this is the point the service charge could have been discussed and removed as it is a discretionary charge. If you would like a refund for charge im happy to send to you or remove from your next bill..."

Well we didn't notice the mention of the service charge on the menu but to be fair we've been using the Hinchinbrook for many years so we weren't looking for such a thing on the menu.

It sounds really strange to us to have an extra charge just because someone has fulfilled the requirements of their job...

Really saddened by this.

And we hope it's not going to become the norm across some of our other favourite restaurants in GY.

We won't be returning to the...

Probably the worst dining experience I’ve ever had — and that’s before we even managed to order food.

We came in as a party of 8 (4 adults and 4 children). From the moment the manager showed us to our table, her body language felt hesitant and unwelcoming. We sat down and, like any family would, discussed the best way to order for the kids — we considered getting one adult meal for 2 of them to share instead of 2 separate children’s meals.

Before we had even finished talking, the manager came over and abruptly told us, “We’re too busy for you not all to be ordering. If you’re not all ordering, you’ll need to leave.” I was taken aback by the tone — it was unnecessarily harsh.

I then asked about their “2 fish and chips for £22” special, because it really didn’t seem like a deal. Rather than explain politely, she kept repeating that it was a deal in a defensive, dismissive manner. When I finally asked why she was being rude, her response was: “If you think I’m being rude, then I’m not serving you.” And that was that — she refused to serve us, leaving 4 adults and 4 children effectively thrown out after less than 5 minutes inside.

To make matters worse, once she refused to serve us, she didn’t even have the decency to speak with us properly or explain why. It was frankly pathetic — she just shut the conversation down and walked away, leaving us to gather our things and leave with the children confused, upset, hungry and scared.

It’s hard not to wonder whether there was something more behind it, as we were the only Asians in the room. I truly hope race wasn’t a factor, but the hostility and lack of basic courtesy certainly made us question it.

We went in ready to eat, spend money, and enjoy ourselves as a family. Instead, we left humiliated and disappointed. Absolutely disgraceful customer service and a place I will...

Party of 5. 4 adults and 1 child. While we were seated we were told that they were becoming busy so once food was ordered it would be a 30 minute wait. We had no issues with this and commented that it was great that they let us know. We all decided what food and drinks we wanted and waited to be served we waited and waited, a table next to us were seated and their drinks order was taken pretty much right away, we were still waiting to order even drinks. Several waiters and waitresses just strolled passed our table without a word we tried to get somebody's attention to be able to order at least a drink. The table next to us who had their drinks and food order taken, the waitress brought their drinks to the table pretty much one by one there were just 2 people. One of our party asked if our order was going to be taken and the waitress was extremely rude and had a lot of attitude with her reply, that we were next. The waitress attitude stank to high heaven, we decided to leave as by this point we had already been waiting for approx 30 minutes this is a generous estimation just to order drinks and people who were seated after us had ordered. We understood that they were becoming busy but to have a table that was seated at least 15 minutes after you order and have their drinks and you were still waiting is unacceptable, then to top.it off have a extremely rude waitres was the icing on the cake. We left and went to a place further down the road and the service was exceptional. I've given a 1 star but in all honesty I've only done that because I can't...